Page 15 of Marked By Night

Let’s get this party started.

6

Sadie

“Hey, watch where you’re walking, douchebags!” Ash hollers at a couple of wasted guys who happen to stumble into us. The first band hasn’t even started playing yet and they’re stumbling drunk. What a bunch of noobs.

One of them spills his drink in his stupor and a tiny drop hits one of Ash’s boots. Her eyes narrow and she takes a step toward the guy, but I snatch her arm, dragging her away before she gets us into trouble. It doesn’t stop the colorful profanities slipping from her mouth, and I don’t blame her. But I don’t want to get kicked out either.

We squeeze behind another group of teens and—holy shit—a throuple. The girl is in the middle and she’s being squished between two guys who are trailing their hands up and down her body. I watch in rapt fascination as the girl kisses one for a minute then switches to the other. Get it, girl.

Why settle for one dick when you can have two? Am I right?

Ash follows my line of sight. “To answer the unspoken question in your eyes, yes, it’s as amazing as that little brain of yours is imagining.”

Her words barely register at first, but when they do, my eyes snap over to hers. “You’ve had a threesome?”

Honestly, I don’t know why I’m surprised. This is Ash we’re talking about.

“Um yeah, and if you weren’t such a prude, you could’ve had one by now too!”

“Hey! I’m not some blushing virgin, you know.” That doesn’t help my case in the slightest.

She gives a look, likereally bitch?

Dammit. She knows me too well.

“Timmy from freshman year does not count. Didn’t you say you kind of just rubbed against one another until he came?”

I groan, rubbing a hand down my face from the absolutelydelightfulmental image that brings back. She’s right though. Poor Timmy. We were like fifteen at the time and he kept fumbling around. Every time I’d offer to help, he’d grab my hand and tell me that he knew what he was doing.

Obviously, he did not and about the fourth time he almost stuck it in my ass, I gave up and lied, pretending when he asked. Then, well, you can imagine the rest.

“Yeah, but that’s beside the point. I’m waiting for the right time, you know?”

“No one’s first time is perfect, Sadie. At this rate, you’ll be eighty before it happens! Hell, my first time I didn’t even orgas—oof.” She cuts off as I elbow her in the side.

“TMI, babe, TMI.” My bestie does not have issues sharing her sex-capades with me. Or anyone else for that matter.

When we finally push past the last of the people in our way, the space opens up to reveal the large stage that we’re directly in front of. I can’t help but let out a little whoop of victory as I rest my arms against the flimsy barricade that’s supposed to keep fans away from the stage, but the metal looks like it’s seen better days. If the crowd gets rowdy enough, I have a feeling it will snap, sending all of us hurtling into the security guards.

Luckily, the stage is low enough that we’re not having to crane our necks to see. Or, well, I’m not. Ash is several inches taller than me and doesn’t have the same short people issues that I do.

“This view is perfect,” Ash says and I nod my agreement.

It really is quite the sight.

The anticipation grows the longer we stand here and wait. Then the lights on the stage dim and everything goes silent for a moment. Even the roar of the crowd fades as everyone waits with bated breath for the performance to start.

The frontman bursts out from backstage, striking a heavy chord on his guitar that resonates within my bones. Everyone explodes into action. We’re a sea of waving bodies as we jump to the heavy beat of the song.

“Let me see those fucking hands in the air!” the sexy singer shouts through the microphone between lyrics. Hundreds, if not thousands, of hands shoot up in unison.

My heart rate spikes as fire and sparklers shoot out of a cannon at the back of the stage. The glow banks the whole area in red light, making everything seem much more sinister than it is, but that’s a part of the appeal. Or maybe it’s the contact high from all the pot smoke I’ve inhaled while talking and I’m imagining things. The fast-paced, adrenaline-inducing thrill is what I crave. I lose myself in the heavy thumping as the drop of the bass hits, beating in time to the wild rhythm in my chest.

* * *

After the firstband finishes their set and the second one plays several ass-kicking songs, they announce there’s going to be a short intermission before continuing the show. I reach down to take another sip of my water and frown when I realize it’s empty.

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